make 20 dollars five minutes

Get $20 In 5 Minutes With These 11 Side Hustles

Presented byTom Blake Hours Fresh Since

So, you're wondering how to get $20 dollars in five minutes and are on a serious time crunch.

People need money quickly for all sorts of different reasons. Maybe you need to pay off a bill before it's due, or maybe you're just trying to save up for a certain expense or treat.

Whatever the case, there are numerous ways you can get some quick cash when you're in a bind. That's why this post is covering some realistic methods to get $20 in five minutes or even instantly in some cases.

How To Get $20 Dollars In Five Minutes

1. Use Get-Paid-To Websites

GPT sites pay you for completing short tasks like answering paid surveys, shopping online, downloading apps, and watching ads. You can earn a few bucks per hour, but sometimes, GPT sites have lucrative shopping or download offers that can pay $20 or more in just a few minutes.

Some leading GPT sites and apps you can try include:

Prime Opinion

It might take you a little more than five minutes to make 20 dollars unless you complete a shopping or download offer.

However, these sites are a very easy way to make some extra beermoney on the side without much effort. And you can always complete a survey or two while watching TV or in your spare time.

👉 Try out Freecash!

2. Play Games For Money

Are you a fan of mobile or PC gaming? If so, one legit way to make $20 in five minutes is to play video games for money.

It might surprise you, but there are tons of paid gaming apps and platforms out there that pay you with cash or gift cards for trying new games. Some of my favorites include:

Rewarded Play app

These apps won't make you rich. But if you already spend time gaming, they can be a pretty fun side hustle idea to test out. And these platforms add new games regularly, so there's usually new content to play and earn with.

If you have an iPhone, you can also read our guide on the best iPhone games that pay for even more apps!

3. Sell Your Used Stuff

Selling your unused stuff for quick money is simple yet effective. I've done this in the past to make extra cash, and I've sold instruments, clothing, and furniture on the Facebook Marketplace.

Other popular things you can usually sell very quickly include:

  • Apparel and accessories
  • Electronics (headphones, computers, iPads and tablets, PS5s, and other gaming devices)
  • Home goods
  • Sneakers
  • Tools
  • Toys
  • Watches and jewelry
  • Vintage goods

You can list your items for sale on local selling marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace or OfferUp. There are also online marketplaces like Mercari and eBay where you can list as well.

Selling locally is better for making cash as fast as possible. This is why running something like a garage sale can even work (my family did this when I was younger a few times.)

4. Borrow The Cash

There's actually plenty of apps out there that let you take out a cash advance against upcoming paychecks. You don't pay interest for doing so, and there's no credit check either.

Dave is one popular cash advance app you can use. It lets you get an advance of up to $500, and it also has a nifty side hustle section to help you find more money-making opportunities.

Dave cash advance

Brigit and Klover are two other options. Each app lets you borrow up to $200 to $250 against an upcoming paycheck, which can be very useful if you're in a pinch and just need a quick spot.

I like Brigit since it also has a useful gig apps section where you can find various side hustle ideas to boost your income. And there's also a budgeting tool to help you stay on track with your spending. All-in-all, these sorts of cash advance apps can help people who are in a tight spot for a few days.

My post on how to make $500 in 24 hours covers how these apps work in greater detail if you want to learn more about Brigit and Albert.

5. Shop With Rakuten

One of the easiest ways to make $20 in five minutes or less is to use shopping extensions like Rakuten that pay you to shop.

With Rakuten, you can earn cash back for shopping with thousands of partners. And right now, it's also paying a $30 sign-up bonus when you spend at least $30 at a qualifying merchant.

total-Rakuten-earnings
A snapshot of my Rakuten earnings.

And Rakuten partners with plenty of popular retailers like:

  • Adidas
  • CVS
  • Expedia
  • Macy's
  • Staples
  • Target
  • Walmart

Cash you earn deposits in your Rakuten account, and you get paid quarterly through check or PayPal. This quarterly payment system means that you have to wait a bit to get your cash. But it's technically a way to make $20 in 5 minutes or less through its awesome sign-up bonus.

The bottom line is that Rakuten is one of the best ways to get paid to shop, and it's my favorite shopping extension that I use for all my online shopping.

Sign up for Rakuten!

6. Try User Testing Gigs

If you want to earn money online, you can always try various user-testing gigs as a way to make $20 in five to ten minutes.

User-testing gigs involve testing websites and apps that are in development to help developers improve them. Usually, you record yourself completing a series of tasks, provide live feedback, and then get paid for your time.

Companies like User Testing are one of the most popular testing platforms out there. And you get paid $10 for each short testing session you complete.

UserTestingYou don't need any quality assurance experience to become a tester either. All you need to do is follow instructions, provide honest and thoughtful feedback, and that's it.

There are plenty of other companies like UserTesting as well that pay you with free PayPal cash for completing short tests. Some popular options include:

All these companies pay similar rates, and tests take a short amount of time.

The tricky part is getting tests regularly since it's a first-come, first-serve basis. That's why checking your email regularly and claiming open tests is so vital. But for a free online gig that pays daily when you get tests, user-testing gigs are extremely popular.

7. Pawn Stuff For Cash

Pawning is different from selling because you're using valuables you own as collateral to borrow money. And when you pay back the money you borrow, you get your items back.

That's how “pawning” works, although you can still sell stuff to pawn shops if you just want the cash and don't care about what you're selling.

And the great news is that there's plenty of popular things to pawn like:

  • Antiques
  • Collectibles like sports cards, rare coins, historical artifacts, or even more niche items like Funko Pops
  • Electronics
  • Expensive sports equipment
  • Jewelry
  • Instruments
  • Wedding rings
  • Tools
  • Video games and consoles

The downside to pawning stuff is that you earn less than you would if you sold it outright in many cases. But the advantage is you can bring your valuables into a pawn shop and walk out with cash very quickly a lot of the time.

8. Rent Out Your Extra Space

While it might surprise you, it's actually possible to create a passive income source that can pay you $20 or much more in a very short amount of time.

With Neighbor, you can make money by renting out your spare storage space to people in your community. It's basically like Airbnb, just for storage space instead of homes.

Become-Neighbor-Host

What I like about Neighbor is that you can also get creative and rent out a variety of spaces like a spare room, parking space, garage, basement, or shed.

Listing your space takes a couple of minutes. And you get to set your price and even outline rules for when and how often renters can come and access their stuff.

If you have a decent amount of land or an empty parking space, this could be a very nice way to earn money on autopilot without lifting a finger.

9. Use Different Reward Apps

Like Rakuten, many reward apps and websites also have nice sign-up offers or pay you with cash back for shopping.

Some other freebies and money-saving apps you can take advantage of include:

  • Drop: My favorite shopping app that also lets you earn $5 to $10+ if you enter a Drop invite code.
  • Fetch Rewards: A leading grocery rewards app that pays you with free gift cards for shopping at partner brands.
  • Pogo: A popular passive income app that pays you with PayPal money whenever you shop and share your data.
  • Upside: A popular gas rewards app that lets you earn up to $0.25 back per gallon at thousands of U.S. gas stations.
  • Receipt Hog: This Fetch Rewards alternative pays you with Amazon gift cards and PayPal money for uploading shopping receipts.

Fetch-Rewards-app

I've been consistently using these types of reward apps since college to save more money. And if you're consistent with them, earning $20 to $30 per month or more isn't unrealistic.

Plus, if there's available sign-up bonuses for various apps, you can reach $20 in free money in just a matter of minutes.

Extra Reading – The Best Micro Task Websites.

10. Do Odd Jobs

Are you willing to hustle? If the answer is yes, you can always do cash odd jobs in your spare time.

I did this during high school and college and so did my friends. And there are tons of ideas you can try out, including gigs like:

  • Babysitting
  • Cleaning houses for people
  • Dog walking and pet sitting (you can use Rover to find clients)
  • Delivering food and groceries for people
  • Doing handyman gigs with apps like TaskRabbit
  • Becoming a rideshare driver
  • Becoming a virtual assistant

You get the idea. With these quick cash gigs, you can start padding your pocket while helping out people in your neighborhood.

11. Return Cans

One final idea to get 20 dollars in five minutes is to return cans and bottles to your local store.

My friends and I did this plenty of time during college to make money. And if you have a small amount of bottles or cans, you can easily make a quick $10 to $20 without much effort.

You won't get rich with this idea, but hey, sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ones to try out.

Final Thoughts

I hope our guide on how to get $20 in five minutes helps you make some fast cash when you need it most.

Between in-person and online side hustles, I really think there are plenty of ways to make a quick buck if you're in a pinch.

However, I also encourage you to explore more long-term money making ideas, like selling your skills as a freelancer or gig economy jobs. I've personally moved into more freelancing gigs to increase my income, and it pays way more than any of the apps or quick money ideas I've tried over the years.

In any case, best of luck in getting your quick $20!

Looking for other money-making methods? Checkout:

Tom is a full-time blogger and freelance writer with a passion for side hustling, passive income, and making money online. His work has appeared on dozens of personal finance websites like Money Crashers, The College Investor, Forbes, and more.

Tom also founded the blog This Online World - a finance site dedicated to helping people make money online - in 2018. After 6 years, that site merged with WebMonkey, with the goal of helping even more people earn their first dollar of online income.

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